A new (old) way to cook venison

[Salmonsmoker]

Recently I came across a cooking technique called "pit cooking". The recipy was for baked beans but the technique seemed right for venison.

This technique is primitive, but makes a venison roast that is supurbe.

Start by digging a hole in the ground - about 2 ft deep by 3 ft wide. Then, line the inside of the hole with medium size rocks so that the ramining hole is about 18 inches. Then, build a fire in that hole and maintain it for a minimum of two hours - to get the rocks hot.

While that is going on, take a venison roast out of the freezer and cut it into pieces abot 4 inches long. (We do all of our own butchering and separate our meat into muscle sections.)

Start a second fire (or else do the following inside on the stove) and get a cast iron dutch oven very hot. Add some cooking oil (I prefer olive oil) and sear the frozen roast so that the outside is completely cooked. Place a trivit in the bottom of the dutch oven, and place the seared meat inside. Add in some potatoes, onions, and carrots, and 1 cup of wine, bullion, or water - put the lid on the dutch oven, and heat rapidly to a boil.

Then, place the dutch oven inside the pit (partially burried in the hot coals) and cover with a piece of metal, then with dirt. Leave it there for 3 hours.

By the time our guests arrive, we tell them that we have to go out and "dig up dinner". That sets the stage for expectations of something less than appitizing for most city people. When we dig up the dutch oven and open it - the roast is "falling apart" tender and the vegies are well done and our guests are totally amazed. Depending on the seasonings used, the flavor is excellent.

Give it a try and let me know how it works out.

Salmonsmoker.

This is a postscript to the above. I tried this techniqe with both a Sirloin roast and a round roast in the same dutch oven. Both were equally tender - a pleasent surprise.

[This message has been edited by Salmonsmoker (edited 07-19-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Salmonsmoker (edited 07-19-2000).]

[Salmonsmoker]

This is an update to the pit-cooking post.

We were having company for a noon dinner yesterday so I did the pit-cook. Started the fire at 8:am and kept it going strong till 10:am.

During the interim, browned the meat (to seal in the juices which is why still-frozen meat works well, the outside is very browned and the inside still solid) - placed it in the dutch oven with the meat grain running vertically ( will post a separate item about that) then laid bacon over the top of the meat. The bacon is always the most fatty and inexpensive kind on the market. Its function is only to baiste the meat while it cooks.

Use a dutch oven that is sized such that the meat (cut into 3 to 4 inch lengths and standing on end) covers the bottom. On top of the meat, put in the vegies and pour in a cup of liquid - in this case I used cider from the freezer.)

At 10:am I put the metal lid over the pit oven, then covered with 4 to 6 inches of dirt for an insulator.

At 1 :pm, we dug it up. The first step from there is to draw off the juice and put it in a skillet along with some arrowroot - in about 5 min. you have excellent gravy.

Then, searve and enjoy. The round roast that we used was moist and fork-cutting tender. If you like, pour some gravy over my meat and vegies - salt to taste, and enjoy some mighty good eatin'.

Salmonsmoker